Thursday, 23 July 2009

GF Pumpkin choc chip muffins

I have been enjoying experimenting with gluten-free flours lately. I remember when I went vegetarian and reading about how many vegetables there were compared to meats in our diet. So when people asked what did I eat, I felt like I had more to enjoy rather than less. In a similar way, gluten-free cooking has opened up a whole new world of flours for cooking.

Recently I have had great success with different flours in brownies, an apricot and cranberry cake and banana and coconut cupcakes. I particularly like the soy and buckwheat combination in the cupcakes and wanted to try this with ground walnuts. The strong nutty flavours of buckwheat and walnuts seemed destined to be paired together. I had planned to try this in the banana and coconut cupcakes with walnuts instead of quinoa. But I am easily distracted.

I was tempted by a favourite vegetable, pumpkin, and couldn’t resist experimenting. I added some spice, chocolate chips and molasses. It ended up tasting a little like gingerbread. The pumpkin didn't add a lot of obvious flavour but it did contribute moisture and sweetness. If I was to make it again I think I might reduce the tablespoon of molasses, which gave quite a strong taste. But overall, the muffins were a success. In fact, E was asking where they were once they were all eaten.

I feel lucky to be able to eat wheat flour, but also lucky to be introduced to so many alternative flavours and textures thanks to gluten-free family and friends. The only problem is finding enough space in my pantry.

I am sending these muffins to Shirley of Gluten Free Easily who is hosting this month’s Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten-Free, an event founded by Naomi of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried. This month the theme is Make Me a Happy Camper. I don't go camping but I do love a picnic and muffins are always great to take along so I am sure these will be welcome. Update: The round up is now posted and I encourage you to read one of the most entertaining and creative round ups I have seen.

Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Light whisk wet ingredients in a large jug. Pour the wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix to combine. Spoon into greased or lined mini muffin tins. Bake at 180 C for about 20-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly. Cool on a wire tray.

13 comments:

They certainly look moist and delicious, GF or not! I've never used that particular combintion of flours, though I love the taste of buckwheat, so I'm sure I'd like these! Walnuts and buckwheat do seem such a perfect match.

Johanna--These muffins look terrific! Pumpkin is one of my all-time favorites and I've often added chocolate chips to my pumpkin cookies. :-) I like your green-themed blog, too--cool! Thanks so much for participating in GAHIGF for the Make Me A Happy Camper theme. You're right ... I sure would love having some of these on one of my camping trips! They could even be made egg-free easily I bet. A heaping tbsp of soy flour and one tbsp of water can often be substituted for one egg in baking recipes like sweet breads and muffins.

I'm still going through emails after my 11-day motorcycle trip with Mr. GFE ... so far haven't found one from you yet. Did you send one? If not, could you send me one please? I'm using them (with the URL and pic) to keep all the entries straight before I post the roundup.

I made a 101 Cookbooks recipe for spiced pumpkin muffins a couple of times which is probably similar (though not gluten free). I likewise found that very dark choc chips (85%) were a beautiful counterpoint to the soft pumpkin sweetness.

Thanks for dropping by. I love hearing from you. Please share your thoughts and questions. Annoyingly the spammers are bombarding me so I have turned on the pesky captcha code (refresh to find an easy one if you don't like the first one)

Search Green Gourmet Giraffe

About Me

Recipes and reflections in which our vegetarian heroine dreams of being tall and graceful as a giraffe; being a goddess in the kitchen; and being gladdened by green gadgets, green food and green politics because green is the colour of hope. See About Me for more info.